WHAT IS THE MEANING OF INTERNET LIFE?AROUND THE WORLD ON THE FIRST TUESDAY First Tuesday is a networking forum for technology entrepreneurs, companies seeking venture capital, investors and related service providers. Founded in 1998, First Tuesday now has 38,000 members and the 10 branches across Europe host meetings on the first Tuesday every month. OF EACH MONTH, INTERNET ENTREPRENEURS, INVESTORS AND assorted techno groupies gather at cocktail parties to discuss the virtual revolution. From London (where the practice started) to Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (kwä`lə l  m`pr), city (1990 est. pop. , from Bratislava to Buenos Aires Buenos Aires (bwā`nəs ī`rēz, âr`ēz, Span. bwā`nōs ī`rās), city and federal district (1991 pop. , and from Chicago to Cape Town Cape Town or Capetown, city (1991 pop. 854,616), legislative capital of South Africa and capital of Western Cape, a port on the Atlantic Ocean. It was the capital of Cape Province before that province's subdivision in 1994. , these mixers organized by the so-called First Tuesday Network (www.firsttuesday.com) provide a forum for the industry elite to meet, greet and ponder what's next in this fast-expanding e-universe. The venues change, but the scene doesn't. Web millionaire wannabes Wannabes is an online interactive soap and game created for the BBC by Illumna Digital. Wannabes follows on from Jamie Kane, the BBC's previous foray into online interactive drama. The show/game consists of 14 10 minute episodes released twice a week. wear nametags with a green dot and spin incesant Internet stories to the money men and women who sport red dots on their ID badges. Yellow-dotted lawyers, consultants, publicists and other hangers-on watch the whole color-coded e-scene go down. The conversations slide easily from profits and page views to society and sports. Above the din of greed and clinking clink 1 intr. & tr.v. clinked, clink·ing, clinks To make or cause to make a light, sharp ringing sound: clinked their wineglasses together in a toast. n. glasses, all the attendees share one firm belief: They are changing the world. To discover exactly where these fast-talking executives want to take us, LATIN TRADE Latin Trade is a monthly magazine covering global business in Latin America and the Caribbean. Similar to Forbes and Fortune Magazine in coverage, the magazine was founded in 1993 and now publishes 87,000 copies 1 each month in Spanish, Portuguese, and English. attended the First Tuesday Network meetings and their knockoffs in Miami, Mexico City Mexico City Spanish Ciudad de México City (pop., 2000: city, 8,605,239; 2003 metro. area est., 18,660,000), capital of Mexico. Located at an elevation of 7,350 ft (2,240 m), it is officially coterminous with the Federal District, which occupies 571 sq mi , Santiago and Buenos Aires. We asked these industry insiders about the meaning of Internet life. Here's what they had to say. miami INTERNET HOTSHOTS AND A GOOD BUNCH OF WANABEES JAM A BAR IN trendy South Beach. in a scene reminiscent of a high school party, the participants, mostly under 40s, cluster in small cliques gossiping about other companies. Most of the men sport a stud look- gel in their hair, first two shirt buttons undone, sports coats. The women tend to fall into one of two categories: the young, smart and aggressive Internet queens with their royal entourages or the Net bimbos, pretending to be interested in the conversations when they're really thinking about tonight's episode of Univision's Tres Mujeres. As scheduled, Marcos Galperin Marcos Galperin, born in 1971, is the CEO of MercadoLibre.com Marcos began the company while still in business school at Stanford University. Finance professor Jack McDonald had been helping Marcos to contact potential investors, and asked John Muse, an invited speaker and of auctions website MercadoLibre updates the audience on his second round of financing with Chase Capital Partners. But only half the crowd grabs seats to listen; the rest are too busy socializing. When it comes time for questions, the boozy party is so loud that peopie have to yell out their questions. Name: Patrick Comack Company: investment banking firm Guzman & Company Age: 34 When did you lose your Internet virginity? I started using the Internet in 1997 researching companies as an equity analyst. Web turn ons? Value-added sites, I love Yahoo Finance. Web turn offs? Junk mail See spam and junk faxes. . What is the meaning of Internet life? Opportunity for everyone. mexico city ALTHOUGH THE TECHIES STILL SHOW UP IN THEIR ULTRA-CASUAL WEAR, THIS FIRST TUESDAY IS slightly more formal than usual. The creators of www.technofin.com.mx are sponsoring the evening of cocktails and chat as a side event to a larger conference on electronic banking and commerce. The web people--two men for every woman--fill the hotel reception room earmarked for the gathering. The attendees older than 35 say they feel ancient. At midnight, the room is still busy. For many, this is like showing up for a club meeting with the same people each month. Often, when the crowd thins and folks put down their cocktail glasses to leave, people collect into smaller groups and head to dinner to continue their conversations. This Tuesday, participants hardly need to look for the colored dots-- clothes are the identifier. The web techs are casual. The money men and the consultants (seen as the folks too afraid to take the tech leap) are suited up. Name: Eduardo Santoyo Company: Nortel Networks (Nortel Networks Limited, Brampton, Ontario, www.nortelnetworks.com) A world leader in telecommunications products, which includes switching, wireless and broadband systems for service providers and carriers, telephones and systems for residential and business users, computer telephony Age: 31 When did you lose your Internet virginity? More than 10 years ago. I used it for the first time when it didn't exist in Mexico. We had to connect ourselves to the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. , calling Compuserve up there, a long distance phone call. There was no Internet service provider Internet service provider (ISP) Company that provides Internet connections and services to individuals and organizations. For a monthly fee, ISPs provide computer users with a connection to their site (see data transmission), as well as a log-in name and password. in Mexico then. I used it with my brother. We bought some books on computers from a shop that Compuserve had then. I think that's all they sold. They sent us the books and when they got here we were really happy to see it had worked. Web turn ons? I think the Internet will change how we do business and make it more efficient. Web turn offs? I think there's not a lot of understanding about the Internet. Some people think that just because they're on the Internet, their business is going to work. Many dot-coms will fail soon, in Mexico and around the world. I think many dot-coms are focused on business models that don't generate revenue--portals, for example. I think that from now on, only those businesses will survive that generate revenue. What is the meaning of Internet life? I think it's a way of having a more efficient economy and more efficient value chain. It's going to modify the way we live. Name: Claudio Cury Company: consulting firm Noun 1. consulting firm - a firm of experts providing professional advice to an organization for a fee consulting company business firm, firm, house - the members of a business organization that owns or operates one or more establishments; "he worked for a Center Group Age:30 I started using Internet in 1993 with the Unix system Noun 1. UNIX system - trademark for a powerful operating system UNIX, UNIX operating system operating system, OS - (computer science) software that controls the execution of computer programs and may provide various services , writing e-mail while working for a consulting company Noun 1. consulting company - a firm of experts providing professional advice to an organization for a fee consulting firm business firm, firm, house - the members of a business organization that owns or operates one or more establishments; "he worked for a . When did you lose your Internet virginity? Web turn ons? Flexibility, know how and the ability to make a difference. Web turn offs? Clumsiness in websites, empty promises and lack of accountability. I ordered a computer from Compaq once and they mixed up the shipping address with the billing address. I was so frustrated and there was really nothing I could do but wait for them to slowly decide to solve the problem. What is the meaning of Internet life? Being able to do day-to-day tasks [ldots] 24-hours a day. Name: Heather Storm Company: mundonuevo.com Age: 30 1995. When did you lose your Internet virginity? Web turn ons? Streaming video A one-way video transmission over a data network. It is widely used on the Web as well as company networks to play video clips and video broadcasts. Computers in home networks stream video to digital media hubs connected to a home theater. , integration of television and Internet and highend graphics. Web turn offs? Technology that is not mine. When you outsource technology to companies, you lose flexibility and control. What is the meaning of Internet life? Whatever you want it to be. Name: Gabriela Barrios Barrios is a name of Hispanic origin. The name may refer to: Persons
Company: law firm Juristel; author of ACI-Internet y Derecho De`re´cho n. 1. A straight wind without apparent cyclonic tendency, usually accompanied with rain and often destructive, common in the prairie regions of the United States. en Mexico Age: 35 When did you lose your Internet virginity? In 1994. I was working in a telecommunications and information technology company -- a network integration firm. I worked in the area of company expansion. I was in charge of the international contracts with providers of information equipment and networks, all the Silicon Valley companies. For me, the Internet was an essential work tool. Web turn ons? It's an excellent work and research tool. Web turn offs? There's abuse by the creators of trash. In the Internet, you encounter the best of humanity an the worst of humanity. What is the meaning of Internet Life? As a person and as a lawyer, it means an information and communication revolution. I can already see the difference between the people used to working with the Internet and those without Internet. You can see the huge difference--not just in the infrastructure of their companies but in the mentality of the people. The Internet cannot replace human thinking but you can see how it boosts your intellectual potential. Name: David Buenfil Company: Internet incubator firm Enovar Age: 29 When did you lose your Internet virginity? This first time was probably as an undergrad in 1993.1 just started using email in general--Compuserve and AOL-and was looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. news. It was very slow. This was in Michigan. Websurfing, I started around 1994, basically through AOL (A division of Time Warner, Inc., New York, NY, www.aol.com) The world's largest online information service with access to the Internet, e-mail, chat rooms and a variety of databases and services. and Compuserve. Friends of mine put up a home page in 1994. Web turn ons? The ability to really cross borders without a problem. You can be a citizen of the world. You eliminate a lot of bureaucracy. Asking for information before, here in Mexico, you'd go to the library and they wouldn't give it to you or to a government agency and you wouldn't get it. Now you can surf and find it all pretty fast. Web turn offs? I think it lacks personality. You could live without ever leaving your house. I think there needs to be that personal touch in everything you do. Lack of personal relationship is what I don't like about it. What is the meaning of Internet life? A lot of sleepless nights. No, really, Internet life to me means fast pace, a lot of hours of work but very rewarding hours. santiago SANTIAGO'S WEB MAVENS GATHER IN A PLACE TYPICAL OF CHILE'S AFTER WORK "COCTELS," a smattering of old city charm and high-tech hipness that cities like New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of or Miami might reserve for the disco-of-the-minute. In the shadow of a graceful, floodlit flood·light n. 1. Artificial light in an intensely bright and broad beam. 2. A unit that produces a beam of intense light; a flood. tr.v. church near downtown's Plaza Italia, the Internet faithful crowd onto the polished concrete floor that was once the terrace of a colonial home, now enclosed in glass and hung with antique white curtains. These days it's called Champa[bar{n}]eria Doce Cinco. And here the glare of multimedia screens and barrage of tuxedo-shirted waiters fuel the sense that a disc jockey disc jockey (DJ) Person who plays recorded music on radio or television or at a nightclub or other live venue. Disc jockey programs became the economic base of many radio stations in the U.S. after World War II. may suddenly leap onto the low-rise stage at one end and start scratching and flipping hip-hop records. Instead, the stage is taken by a pleased and jovial (Jules' Own Version of the International Algebraic Language) An ALGOL-like programming language developed by Systems Development Corp. in the early 1960s and widely used in the military. Its key architect was Jules Schwartz. Greg Barton, an organizer of the event and the 33-year-old founder and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Business News Americas (www.bnamericas.com), a Santiago-based news site. After greeting the crowd over a PA system that strains to beat the already numbing roar of 250 conversations going on at once, Barton reflects on the meaning of Internet life: "Opportunity. Freedom. Expression. Fun. No limits." And so it is. Name: Andr[acute{e}]s Chechilnitzky Company: investment fund Ventana-Chile Age: 26 When did you lose your Internet virginity? In 1993. I got an Internet account and plugged in. Web turn ons? How it's getting the consumer and the producer closer together. We're getting closer and closer to the perfect market we studied in business school. And there's no turning back. All this talk about the Internet bubble See dot-com bubble. , I don't believe it. There's no going back now. Web turn offs? Hackers are a turn-off. They're introducing new costs for security and making things more expensive. And people are trusting the Internet less because of it. What is the meaning of Internet life? Networking. Networking. Networking. buenos aires MOVED FROM ITS CUSTOMARY LOCATION IN THE TRENDY DOCKS DISTRICT, THIS FIRST TUESDAY IN BUENOS Aires unfolds at a spot on the banks of the Rio de la Plata La Plata (lä plä`tä), city (1991 pop. 640,344), capital of Buenos Aires prov., E central Argentina, 5 mi (8.1 km) inland from Ensenada, its port on the Río de la Plata. . The locale may have changed but the scene is the same: a crowded, smoky bar teeming teem 1 v. teemed, teem·ing, teems v.intr. 1. To be full of things; abound or swarm: A drop of water teems with microorganisms. 2. with hundreds of well-dressed under 40-somethings. El Sitio Latin internet portal founded in 1997, by Roberto Vivo-Chaneton and Roberto Cibrian-Campoy. Founded in Argentina, El Sitio was considered one of the principal Spanish language internet companies of the late 1990s dot-com boom. co-founder Roberto Cibri[acute{a}]n is on the stage talking about his company's success--though saying little about its recent stock price plummet--but most of the mob seems more intent on socializing. Actual business dealings are more virtual than real, but what else can you expect in a spot where the young gather and the beer is free? Name: Federico Agardy Company: Anarctic Ventures Age: 31 When did you lose your Internet virginity? In May '98, investing in Patagon. [Agardy was Patagon's angel investor An individual who invests his or her own money in a private company, which is typically a startup. An angel investor is not an employee or member of a bank, venture capital firm or other financial institution that normally makes such investments. ]. I had no idea what I was getting into. The only thing that mattered is that you had two brilliant kids in front of you with an idea that was almost impossible to imagine. But we knew we were in the middle of something. It sounded different, so why not? Web turn ons? Not wearing a tie, Making a ton of money. And having a lot of fun. Web turn offs? Everybody is losing their minds. Everybody thinks they're going to become millionaires from one day to another. What is the meaning of Internet life? Growth. Productivity. Fun. Opportunity. And wealth. Name: Veronica Escobar Company: ad agency Media Direct Age: 31 When did you lose your Internet virginity? I was 22. We had a connection at work Web turn ons? I love the quickness and immediacy of it. Everything is within arm's reach reach of the arm; the distance the arm can reach. See also: Arm . Web turn offs? Some sites are pretty boring. You go through page after page and there's no content. What is the meaning of Internet life? It's a mix of present and future. And it really brings creativity to life. Name: German Soracco Company: Oracle Age: 32 When did you lose your Internet virginity? First experience? It must have been an entertainment site. No, it was a site with business information. Whatever it was, it was definitely satisfying. Web turn ons? Making money. Creating solutions. Web turn offs? None. It all seems so passionate. It's incredible and I'm for it 100%. It seems like I can liberate myself, talk to anybody--a lot of open minds, old people, young people, people with money, people without money. It's great! What is the meaning of Internet life? All this life it is generating is life itself. How's that for cheap philosophy? Name: Horacio Riquelme Company: eTranslate.com Age: 35 When did you lose your Internet virginity? About six, seven years ago. I was project manager for a translation company. The needed a cost-efficient way to communicate between Santiago and clients in Ireland and Buenos Aires. So we got into e-mail. Web turn ons? Food and recipe sites, like epicuriouscom. And I love web cams. There's one in San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden at the Exploratorium looking out onto the bay. I work with people in San Francisco so I like to look in on the weather there. Web turn offs? I hate when they say something is free but then ask you to put in credit card numbers. What is the meaning of Internet life? Absolute democracy of information. Name: Julian Randle Company: Viajeya.com Age: 37 When did you lose your Internet virginity? July last year. I was at Stanford attending a conference with amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos and I was expecting the guy to overwhelm us with the wonders of technology. Sixty percent of the conference was all about traditional marketing and customer service. And I said to myself, 'Internet is just a string holding a balloon which is called customer service.' Web turn ons? I like eBay a whole lot. I think eBay is an incredible concept. Web turn offs? People just putting off-line information on the web and thinking that is the way it works, not realizing that it's a totally different way of doing things all together. They digitize information and think that's what it's all about. What is the meaning of Internet life? It's like not seeing your wife and kids, and living on an airplane, and thinking about your stock options, Isn't that what it is? |
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